Have you ever noticed that most parents seem to hope their children will be gifted, talented, bright sparks? They mistake unexpected spikes in performance with genius as if having a savant in the family will bring reflected glory. It’s one thing to be proud of your kids, but quite another to expect, desire, NO, need to achieve things through your kids. In any case, it seems to me that those with exceptional ability at one thing always lack profoundly in other ways. What parents should really wish for is children who are reasonably good at many things: i.e. balanced, well adjusted, all-rounders.

Yes, yes, yes ... the rumours are true - we have written another book to add to our portfolio of best selling books (see Call Me Dad outsells Twilight). This time we've teamed up with the folks at Wiley's who publish the "For Dummies" book series. "For Dummies" books are much loved for their simple, straight forward and no bull* style. Many dads-to-be will already have lots of these books in their bookshelf, so it made sense to produce one that is about fatherhood. The book has been written in co-operation with Plunket and is packed with practical parenting information from a dad's perspective.

The book is not officially published yet so we can't talk about it too much but soon you will be able to buy it online and at all your favourite bookstores. Watch this space for more details about Being A Great Dad For Dummies!

Here's the latest treat from dad and comedian Ryk Goddard (who brought us "Sneaking Off To My Shed") - his take on what NOT to say when your partner is breastfeeding. Another milestone in dad humour - laugh or weep ... it's a must read.

1. That bra’s got more strapping than a 35 gyear old prop’s knee!
Don't remind her that underwear which used to make her breasts look and feel like luxury confectionary now resembles a suspension bridge. Don't mention rugby. Or sport. Go do some hoovering.

2. Come on Daisy, I've sterilised the pump ... its milking time
Bovine reference? Bad mooooove. She may laugh. But only because her brain's working so slow she hears the sound of a joke without actually processing the words.

3. Oh god is that cheese under your boobs!! I don’t think a wine exists that would go well with that. Oh maybe that new Pinot actually ...

We just received a media release about a new site that allows people to announce deaths, births and marriages. In most countries this is done as a (public) register and generally looked after by a government department. Problem is - the information is often difficult to access and not very "user friendly". So someone had the bright idea to create a separate website to publish this information - www.bdmnz.co.nz. The site is pretty empty at the moment but I thought it was an interesting idea. There may be more sites likes these around the planet ... will be interestg to see if the idea takes off. Perhaps give the site a go when you want to tell the world about the birth of your next baby.

Enjoy

-Stefan

The recent Fathers pack trial was a huge success with the 300 dads who received their packs as part of the initial batch. The packs went to all over New Zealand to be received by proud dads (and curious if not envious mums). The packs contained a variety of sample products for dads and bubs, practical parenting information and things that come in handy when you've got a baby in the house - like a photo frame.

Pictured are Wayne and Ella from Wellington who wrote in to say "thanks for the DIY Fathers pack". "The highlight would have to be the Philips AVENT Thermometer, we never had one before but now use this all the time to check Ella's room temp, now that it is cooling down outside, it's also great in the bath. The shampoo and conditioner sachets were also a hit with bubs. We've not used any of the vouchers yet but will probably use the Chiasso coffee discount code we found on the very cool Lego USB stick" says Wayne.

Our first child was a fortnight late and when he finally made an appearance he was ugly - I mean like one of the bad guys out of Peter Jackson's imagination. Grey and wizened with hands like talons. I obligingly pointed this out to the assembled maternity staff. "Oh you poor, ugly little bugger," I believe were my words. Next thing you know I was clubbed to the ground by a clutch of midwives and nurses who all had black belts in frowning.

Expectant fathers have a lot of decisions to make when getting ready for the arrival of their first or new child. Many people create checklists to try and help them prepare, but it is impossible to make ready for every situation or need. There are many decisions during the pregnancy that dads really care about expressing an opinion but some are avoided at all costs.

Here are Five Decisions Expectant Fathers Tend to Avoid:

1. Choice of doctor or hospital - we're not the ones who need to feel comfortable being poked, probed and examined, so why should our opinion matter?

2. Room decor or bedding set - dads want kids to have cool rooms, but the only things we really care about when it comes to decor are how much it costs and the amount of work it will be for us to paint and set-up all of the furniture.

3. Formula or breastfed baby - as long as we can be involved in feeding the baby in some way, we don't really care where the milk comes from.

4. Natural or 'pain relieved' delivery - some dads may quietly think they have a strong position on this leading up to the big day; however, that quickly changes when they get in the delivery room with a screaming mom. In most cases, dads understand that they aren't the ones pushing the baby out, so they really don't have a say about epidurals or pain medications anyway.

A new film about babies adequately named "Babies" is about to hit the screens. It was directed by Thomas Balmès and follows four babies around the world (in Tokyo, Mongolia, San Francisco and Namibia) – from birth to first steps. I saw a short interview with the director and he made a few interesting comments about what he found out when they made the movie. One of the essential observations he made was that babies don't need constant entertainment to be content and that parents have a tendency to over-stimulate. Check out the trailer:

The following story is re-published on DIYFather.com with kind permission from www.homebirth.org.nz.

It all started for me some three and a half years ago at an antenatal class - a bunch of expectant first time parents sitting there with a group of strangers wondering, "What the hell am I doing here?" Midwives! Bring on the doctors, the machinery, the drugs and the other wonders of modern science. But there I was, dragged along by my wife's excitement, listening to what I thought at the time was the "hippy" section of the medical profession, subscribing natures way and homeopathic remedies for childbirth. These, I thought, were the people probably not good enough to get a job at the hospitals - HOW WRONG I WAS!

In hindsight, women have been giving birth for quite a few years now and why I thought giving birth in a hospital would be better I have no idea.

What is it with those signs that new parents hang in the back window of their cars saying “baby on board” or something similar? That sort of thing just deserves ridicule because it is, well, ridiculous. I mean what does it say to the driver following behind? “Please excuse me for driving dangerously slowly” or “please don’t crash into the back of me like you normally would.” Either way, to me it is entirely unnecessary and annoying as; firstly there is no excuse for bad driving and secondly I always drive carefully. In fact, I have never had so much as a bump.